THE OFTEN-used expression in football of ‘a game of two halves’ was appropriate for Loughborough Dynamo’s 3-2 home league victory over fellow strugglers Rugby Town, Dynamo recording their first win and league points since September.

Dynamo started with an unchanged side from the starting 11 from the previous match at Belper Town, and hit the visitors hard in the opening 15 minutes.

Rugby were the first to threaten when Aaron Moses-Garvey was on the end of a long ball in the third minute and his side foot volley went straight at Dynamo goalkeeper Liam Sharpe. Dynamo hit straight back and a minute later Jack Oldham met a ball in from the Dynamo left and scored.

Rugby tried to hit back straight away and Sharpe just beat the visitors number 9 David Kolodynski to a through ball. Kolodynski always looked threatening until having to come off injured in the second half.

Dynamo then pushed further ahead with two goals in five minutes. The 11th minute saw Tom Waumsley put in a shot which Rugby goalkeeper Louis Connor got to, but the ball spun away from Connor into the net for Waumsley’s second goal in as many matches.

In the 15th minute a long ball into the Rugby area was met by Waumsley who volleyed goalward. The ball hit Rugby centre back Mason Rowley and completely redirected the ball past Connor for an own goal and a Dynamo 3-0 advantage.

Lavell White, partnering Waumsley up front, was next to threaten and shot wide of Connor’s eft hand post from a good position. A loose pass in the Dynamo defence put Louis Keenan in trouble and conceded a foul near the Dynamo penalty area. Dynamo cleared the free kick and broke at pace and Jordan Ball picked up the ball, cut in from the left and drew a good save from Connor.

Dynamo were given a warning in the 36th minute when Kolodynski was on the end of through ball and netted, but was ruled offside. Two minutes later Kolodynski went down under pressure in the Dynamo area, but referee Steven Abbott waved away penalty appeals from Rugby.

The final action of the first half saw Waumsley’s low shot bounce awkwardly in front of Connor, who was able to turn the ball away.

If Dynamo were the better side in the first half, this was reversed in the second half as Rugby took the game to Dynamo. Kolodynski cut in from the right and fired high and wide in the 54th minute, but had to come off injured three minutes later.

A 60th minute Dynamo corner saw the ball come back to Danny Brain on the edge of the Rugby area, but Brain fired over the visitors’ bar. Waumsley was prominent once again when he was on the end of a ball into the Rugby area, but his back header was held by Connor.

In the 69th minute Louis Guest was adjudged to have handled in the Dynamo area, Moses-Garvey taking the resulting penalty kick and sent Sharpe the wrong way to score. This gave the visitors a real boost, and started a spell of concerted pressure on the home side’s defence.

A cross was driven into the Dynamo area and it hit Rugby’s Chris Sterling and went wide. Sterling was again in the thick of the action around the Dynamo goal when he picked up a loose Dynamo clearance but shot wide.

Dynamo eased the pressure in the 81st minute when a good move between Oldham and captain Chris Gray set up Waumsley, who saw his shot blocked. Brain then slipped and Moses-Garvey was on the end of the ball into the area, and his shot drew an outstanding save from Sharpe.

Dynamo nearly put the game out of Rugby’s reach in the 83rd minute when Gray fed Waumsley, and his outstanding curling shot beat Connor but hit the post and ran to safety. Two minutes later a Rugby through ball found substitute Charlie Faulkner who ran on to score and set up a nervous closing period, but Dynamo held on for a 3-2 win and three valuable points.